Variable-speed drive and clutch



Dec. 1951 A. A. PETERSON VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE AND CLUTCH 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed May 13, 1949 /7/7 /Z et erzson A rim-Hey 1951 A. A.'PETERSON VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE AND CLUTCH 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed May 13, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VARIABLE-SPEED DRIVE AND CLUTCH All A. Peterson; Hallock, Minn.

Application May 13, 1949, Serial No. 92,970

2 Claims. (Cl. til-230.17.)

This invention relates to a variable speed drive whereby a driven shaft may be driven through a belt connection by a drive shaft at different speeds and while the drive shaft is bein revolved at a uniform speed.

More particularly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a variable speed drive through a belt with pulley connections between a drive shaft and a driven shaft and wherein the belt will be maintained at all times in a straight line to minimize wear thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a variable speed belt drive having associated clutch means for releasing the belt to permit the drive shaft to revolve relatively to its driven shaft.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the aforedescri-bed character of extremely simple construction which is capable of being economically manufactured and readily installed between a drive shaft and its parallel driven shaft to enable the speed of rotation of the driven shaft to be manually adjusted and varied relatively to the rotational speed of the drive shaft.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating presently preferred embodiments thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred form of the variable speed drive and clutch;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view thereof taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 3a is a sectional view takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3a3a of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan view of another embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view thereof taken substantially alon a plane as indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 4, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the pulley actuating means, shown on an enlarged scale.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, first with reference to the embodiment of the invention as illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the novel variable speed drive and clutch designated generally 1 and disclosed therein includes a frame, designated generally 8, having corre- 2 sp ondin'g parallel side members 9 and I0. A bearing H is secured on the upper surface of side member l'll'by fastenings I2 adjacent one end of the frame 8 to provide a journal for a portion of a drive shaft 13 which is journaled therein and disposed transversely over the frame 3, as best illustrated in Figure 3. The drive shaft is may be connected to and driven by any suitable power source, not shown. A similar bearing i4 is mounted in the same manner on the upper side of the frame side member 9 adjacent the opposite end of the frame 8 for journaling a portion of a driven shaft [5 which is likewise disposed above and transversely of the frame as seen in Figure 2.

A V-shaped belt pulley, designated generally it is mounted on the shaft it over the opening f the frame 3 and a corresponding belt pulley, designated generally I7 is similarly located on I the driven shaft I5. The belt pulley [6 includes a cone shaped disk 18 having a hub 19 provided with a fastening 20 for fixedly securing it to the drive shaft l3 and with the hub I9 located adjacent the bearing I I. The belt pulley It also 1 includes a complementary cone-shaped disk 2| having a hub portion 22 extending outwardly therefrom and which is splined at 23 on the shaft .13, as seen in Figure 3. A collar 24 is rotatably mounted on the hub 22 and is retained thereon by a retaining collar 2owhich is detachably secured around the outer end of the hub 22 by a screw fastening 26.

"The belt pulley ll corresponds to the belt pulley it including a stationary cone-shaped disk [8a having a hub 19a secured by fastening 20a to the driven shaft I5 and which is disposed inwardly of and adjacent the bearing l4 and a slida'bly mounted cone-shaped disk 2m having a hub 2211 which is splined as seen at 23a to the shaft I5 and which carries a rotatable collar 24a thereon which is held in place by a retaining collar 25a which is detachably fastened to the hub 22a by a screw fastening 26a. It will thus be readily apparent that the pulley halves 2| and 21a while splined to the shafts i3 and [5, respectively, are capable of sliding toward and away from the stationary pulley halves l8 and 18a, respectively.

A supporting member 21 is secured by fastenings 2-8 to the upper side of the frame side 9 and extends outwardly therefrom and has a bar 25 secured thereto by fastenings 30. The bar as extends transversely over the frame 8 to provide a support and guide for a sleeve 3| which is reciprocally mounted thereon. A lever 32 is pivotally mounted at 33 on the upper side of the support 21 adjacent its outer end and said lever is disposed in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the support 21 and is mounted for swinging movement on its pivot 33 toward and away from the frame 8. A rigid link 34 is pivotally connected at one end thereof at 35 to the lever 32 adjacent its pivot 33 and is pivotally connected atits opposite end at 36 to the adjacent end of the sleeve or slide 3|. The lever 32 is provided with a conventional reciprocating latch 3'1 for selectively engaging between the teeth or notches of a latch segment 38 which is mounted on the support 21 for releaseably holding the lever 32 in a plurality of adjusted positions.

A pulley actuating lever, designated generally 39 includes an intermediate portion 40, as best seen in Figure 2, composed of spaced substantially parallel sections which loosely straddle the sleeve or slide 3| and which are provided with aligned openings for loosely receiving studs 4| which project from opposite sides of the slide 3| for pivotally connecting said lever 39 to the slide. The lever 39 is provided with complementary fork-shaped ends 42 and 43 and has a shank portion 44 comiecting the fork 42 to one end of the intermediate portion 40 and a shank portion 45 connecting the fork 43 to the other end of the intermediate portion 40. Said shank portions are formed of sections rigidly connected together by a plurality of headed fastenings 46 and 41, respectively. As seen in Figure 1, the complementary shank portions and forks are disposed in alignment and in parallel relationship and the intermediate lever portion 40 is disposed obliquely thereto.

Each of the furcations or arms of the forks 42 and 43 has a channel-shaped member 48 secured thereto provided with an inwardly projecting pin 49 which swivelly engages a recess 59 of either the collar 24 or 24a for swivelly connecting the fork 42 to the collar 24and the fork 43 to the collar 24a. A contractile coiled spring 5| has one end anchored to a bracket 52 which is secured to the shank 44 by one of its fasten lugs 46 and is attached at its opposite end to an eye screw 53 the shank of which extends slidably through a bracket 54 which projects from the end of the sleeve3l, remote to the end thereof which is connected to the link 34. A nut 55 engages the eye screw 53 and bears against the bracket 54 for varying the tension on the spring 5| which urges the lever 39 to swing in a clockwise direction on its pivot 4|, as seen in Figure 1.

A lever 56 is pivotally mounted at one of its ends on the pivot 35 of the link 34 and adjacent said end is pivotally connected at 51 to one end of a rigid link 58, the opposite end of which is pivotally connected to one of the fastenings 46.

An endless belt 59 of a substantially V-shaped cross section is trained over the belt pulleys I6 and I1. Assuming that the parts are in the positions as illustrated in Figure 1 and that the drive shaft I3 is revolving at a constant speed, since the pulley sections 8 and 2| are disposed in adjacent positions the belt 59 will engage the outer part of the pulley IE to be driven thereby. However, the belt pulley section 2|a is spaced from the belt pulley section |6a so that the belt 59 will engage the inner portion of the pulley I! and accordingly will cause the pulley l1 and driven shaft |5 to be revolved at a faster rate than the drive shaft l3. By releasing the latch 4 31 and swinging the lever 32 in a direction away from the frame 8 the slide 3| will be drawn from right to left of Figure l causing the lever 39 to slide in the same direction so that the pulley section 2| will be displaced away from the pulley section I8 and the pulley section 2|a will be displaced toward the pulley section |6a thereby causing the belt 59 to move inwardly on the pulley l6 and outwardly toward the periphery of the pulley ll so that the pulley I! will then be driven at a slower speed than the pulley I6 and the driven shaft |5 will accordingly revolve at a lesser rate than the drive shaft I3. Likewise, the pulleys l6 and I! could be disposed in corresponding positions so that both shafts and pulleys would be revolved at the same speed.

It will also be noted that the side edges of the belt 59 will remain parallel to the frame sides 9 and i0 irrespective of the position of the belt pulleys I6 and IT, as previously described, so that the belt will not be displaced out of a. straight line by movement of the belt pulley which is very important since otherwise the belt would be subjected to excessive wear.

The spring 5| constitutes a part of a clutch structure to normally retain the pulley sections 2| and 2|a in engaged positions by urging the lever 39 to rock clockwise as seen in Figure l for thereby urging said movable pulley sections toward the stationary pulley sections l8 and l8a, respectively. However, by swinging the lever 56 away from the frame 8 on the pivot 35 a pull will be exerted thereby on the link 58 to cause the lever 39 to rock counterclockwise as seen in Figure 1 on its pivot 4| against the action of the spring 5| for simultaneously displacing both sliding pulley halves away from the stationary pulley halves for releasing the belt 59 so that the drive shaft I3 can revolve relatively to the belt and to the driven shaft l5 to thus provide a clutch in combination with the speed changing structure.

Figures 4, 5 andG illustrate a simplified embodiment of the invention and wherein the belt is displaced out of parallelism with the frame sides when one belt pulley is spread and the other belt pulley is closed and which may be utilized satisfactorily where the belt is relatively narrow and not much power is required to revolve the driven shaft. In this form of the invention a frame 60 is shown having an end of a drive shaft 6| extending transversely through and journaled in its side wall 62 adjacent one end thereof and an end of a drive shaft 63 similarly disposed adjacent the opposite end of the frame and likewise journaled in the wall 62. The drive shaft 6| carries a belt pulley, designated generally 64 corresponding to the belt pulley l6 in construction and wherein the stationary pulley half is disposed adjacent the frame side 62. A belt pulley, designated generally 65 is mounted in the frame 60 on the driven shaft 63 and corresponds with the belt pulleys l6 and I! in construction. However, whereas the slidably splined pulley'halves 2| and 2|a are oppositely disposed, as seen in Figure l, the slidably splined pulley halves 66 and 61 of the belt pulleys 64 and 65, respectively, are disposed adjacent corresponding ends of the shafts 6| and 63. a

A guide bar 68 is secured by a fastening 69 in a boss 19 of the frame side 62 and extends transversely through the frame to adjacent its opposite side and provides a support and guide for reciprocally receiving a sleeve or slide H which is urged toward the side 62 by an expansion spring 12 which is carried by the guide 68 and bears with one end against the slide fl and has its opposite endseating against a collar 13.

A lever, designated generally 14 and formed of corresponding sections is provided with a substantially circular intermediate portion 15 which engages loosely around the slide H and is pivotally connected thereto by headed studs I6. The lever 14 is provided with complementary end portions which project obliquely from said intermediate portion 75 and each of which. includes a shank portion 76 having an outer end terminating in a fork H. The legs of one fork T! are pivotally connected to the pulley half 66 and the legs of the other fork T1 are pivotally connected to the pulley half 51. The connection of the fork legs to the pulley halves is identical with that disclosed in Figures 1 to 3 and a further description thereof is therefore considered unnecessary.

A lever, designated generally 18 which is substantially Y-shaped has the terminal portions of its complementary legs is downwardly offset and connected to the two lever shank portions 16 each by a fastening 89 and with the shank portion 81 and the adjacent ends of the legs 19 being upwardly offset and positioned above the spring 72 and collar 13. A rigid link 82 is pivotally connected at one end to the shank 8| and is pivotally connected at its opposite end to one end of a lever 84 which is pivotally mounted intermediate of its ends at 85 on a latch segment 86 which is secured on the frame 68 and which cooperates with a reciprocatin latch 87 carried by the opposite end portion of the lever 84 to retain said lever 84 and lever 8| in a plurality of adjusted positions.

A lever 88 is pivotally mounted at 89 intermediate of its ends on the frame side 62 and is pivotally onnected at one end thereof to an end of a push rod 99, the opposite end of which is looped as seen at 9| to engage slidably about the bar 68 for bearing against the opposite, inner end of the slide 7| so that when the lever 88 is swung counterclockwise on its pivot 89, as seen in Figure 4, the push rod 90 will be actuated for displacing the slide H and lever 14 in a direction from left to right of Figure 4 for moving both sliding pulley halves away from the stationary pulley halves for disengaging the belt 92, which is trained over the pulleys 64 and 65, so that the drive shaft 6| can be revolved without driving the driven shaft 63 and belt 92. The spring 12 will normally urge the slide H in the opposite direction for urging the sliding pulley halves toward the stationary pulley halves for holding both pulleys in tight engagement with the belt 92.

Likewise, by swinging the lever 84 counterclockwise on its pivot 85 the lever 14 will be rocked counterclockwise on its pivot 76 through the link and lever connection 82 and 78, respectively, for displacing the pulley half 66 inwardly and for displacing the other pulley half 61 outwardly, each relatively to its complementary stationary pulley section, for the same purpose as previously described with reference to the variable speed drive 1 and so that the driven shaft 63 may be revolved either at the same speed, faster or slower than the drive shaft 6|.

Various other modifications and changes are likewise contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, Without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A variable speed drive comprising a frame. parallel shafts journ-aled on the frame including a drive shaft and a driven shaft, a belt pulley connected to each shaft for rotation therewith, each belt pulley including a fixedly mounted cone-shaped disk forming one pulley section and a movable cone-shaped disk section slidably splined to the shaft, a support mounted on said frame extending substantially parallel to the shafts, a slide reciprocably mounted on said support, a belt pulley actuatin lever pivotally connected intermediate of its ends to said slide and pivotally and rotatably connected at its ends to the slidably mounted belt pulley sections, a first manually actuated link and lever means connected to the slide for moving the slide and the intermediate lever portion relatively to the frame in opposite directions parallel to the shafts for displacing one slidable belt pulley section away from its stationary belt pulley section and for simultaneously moving the other slidable belt pulley section toward the other stationary belt pulley section for varying the effective diameters of said belt pulleys, and spring means adjustably anchored to the'slide and connected to the belt pulley actuating lever at a point spaced from its intermediate pivotally mounted portion for rocking said lever on the slide in a direction for urging both slidable belt pulley sections toward the stationary belt pulley sections. 2. A variable speed drive as in claim 1, and a second manually actuated link and lever means pivotally connected to the belt pulley actuating lever adjacent one end thereof for rocking said lever in the opposite direction and against the action of said spring means for simultaneously moving both slidable belt pulley sections away from the stationary belt pulley sections.

ALF A. PETERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

